


Clean Out the Heart

by Brain_Flower



Series: Valentine [2]
Category: Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Daddy Kink (mentioned), Fluffy, M/M, Slade being a soft baby because I love him, only the best for these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:53:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24923404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brain_Flower/pseuds/Brain_Flower
Summary: Slade is a man of action. Dick forgets that.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Series: Valentine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803667
Comments: 17
Kudos: 186





	Clean Out the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> We last spoke back in January. So much has happened since then. I hope everyone is making it this year.
> 
> I’ve been working on this for a week and I kinda still don’t like it. I could destroy my brain by rewriting it again or I could just post it and if I finally decide how I could make it better I could take it down and do that. This is how I felt about Papa Complex so at this point I just need to turn my brain off and move on. 
> 
> This is in the same Papa complex/Valentine series. Yes there are still a few fics from this series that have not been reposted and may not be. I’m still debating.
> 
> I’ll edit the grammar when I’m not working. I have to stop too much to bother with that.

Dick should have seen it when Slade moves them out of the safe house and into a nice apartment. Hell he should have seen it when Slade didn’t question his daddy issues, allowed him and Valentine to stay, and had a debit card linked to Slade’s account sent to their new apartment, for Dick. 

But as long as he was raised and trained by the worlds greatest detective, he does find it nice to sometimes shut that part of his brain off and become completely oblivious to the world around him. 

It’s nice when he and Slade do stupid domestic shit together like go to the Whole Foods and argue about how organic cereal does not make it any better for Dick. “Cinnamon jungle munch is not a proper breakfast, Dick.” Slade had told him and pulled him away from the shelf. 

“But it’s got an elephant on it.” Dick argued, voice small. Okay and maybe he played dirty and gave Slade his best sad puppy eyes because Slade had relented and let him have envirokidz jungle munch with the elephant on the box, but he did not indulge Dick’s unhealthy choices the rest of the trip. 

Turns out jungle munch is not that good but it has an elephant on the box and he asked Slade for it so he eats it whenever Slade isn’t around because when he IS around Dick has to eat healthy carbs and proteins and vegetables. 

Sometimes on the weekends (as if they hold normal every day 9-5 jobs) if they aren’t working Slade will take him places. They go to a used record store that smells of dust and cigarettes and Dick loves it. It’s small but comfortable and everyone there is friendly towards him and towards Slade. 

Slade takes him to a zoo and lets him stay too long looking at elephants. Dick feels kind of childish but plenty of adults go on dates to the zoo and Dick does confirm after a month of doing stupid stuff like this that Slade does also consider it a date so he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. 

In return, Dick drags Slade into a goodwill despite all of Slade’s protests. “I can buy you whatever you want. We don’t have to be here.” Slade had said, pulling a hand away when Dick tried to get the mercenary to feel a shirt he was holding. 

“Yes but I like it here.” He told Slade and moved on. 

“Your affinity with used kitschy bullshit like this is gross to me.” Slade grumbled when Dick moved a yellowed mechanical keyboard to look at a kewpie doll, “Dont bring that thing into my home, I’d bet you it’s haunted.” 

“You believe in ghosts?” Dick teased which only made Slade’s mood worse. They didn’t stay long, Dick let him off without bringing anyone else’s ‘garbage’ into their apartment. He also didn’t make Slade go to another goodwill but he did take him to a few garage sales. 

“Estate sales are worse.” Slade says this weekend, when Dick directs Slade on where to take him and winds up in someone’s driveway with a sign out front, “This is not only someone’s garbage, but some dead persons garbage.” 

“Maybe it’s their divorce garbage.” Dick defends, stepping out of Slade’s tahoe, “We get to see a house and their junk. What’s not to like? It’s a two for one deal.”

“I don’t like this.” Slade says while Dick is in an en-suite bathroom covered in tacky yellow and orange floral wallpaper looking at an old curling iron, “There is something so wrong about walking through a dead guys house to look at his furniture. That’s a fucking curling iron Dick why would you ever need that?” 

Dick looks at Slade in the bathroom mirror, pointing the curling iron at their reflections, “Slade you kill people for money.” He says, “Why are you so up your ass about looking at a dead guys hair care products? Is this about haints again? You really should tell me if the big bad Deathstroke is afraid of ghosts.” 

Slade doesn’t answer him but his eye narrows and he backs out of the bathroom and waits for Dick to finish rifling through bathroom drawers. They leave after Slade gags over stepping into another bathroom with admittedly squishy shag carpet. 

So Dick’s not allowed to take Slade to anymore estate sales but that doesn’t mean he can’t go by himself. The rule stands that he can go as long as no cursed, haunted bullshit winds up in Slade’s apartment and that seems fair to Dick so he doesn’t include Slade in his escapades. 

There are other things Dick doesn’t realize about Slade until much later. Dick would like to blame it on the fact that he’s spent so much time angry with Bruce about his lack of verbal communication that when Slade shows the same behaviors it just flies right past Dick without him noticing. 

Slade knows Dick doesn’t like grocery shopping so he doesn’t make Dick go alone very often or he’ll just go by himself. 

If Slade is home when Dick gets back from patrols he always has a bath going for Dick. And sometimes, because Slade honestly is a sweetheart, he adds bath oils or bath bombs even though he says those are childish and a pain in his ass. Dick may or may not have stained the bathtub more than once with glittery black bath bombs and Slade may or may not have spent an hour and a half on his knees scrubbing the tub with comet. 

And Slade cooks for him all the time so it’s only fair that Dick also cooks for Slade as well. Except Dick has about three recipes he can make without ruining them in someway and there’s only so much spaghetti he can eat before he’s over it. He’s exhausted all three of his recipes a month into living in their new apartment but Slade never complains. In fact if Dick cooks for him Slade washes the dishes by hand even though they have a perfectly good dish washer Dick’s started filling while making dinner. 

So Dick experiments with dinner. He scrolls Pinterest for an hour before finding something he feels like he won’t fuck up so badly that it’s inedible. And yet it is. Dick overcooks and under seasons shrimp and when Slade gets home from a job after a week of being gone he eats it without complaint. Dick is angry that Slade is eating this shit he made so easily because Dick is only able to eat half a serving before he’s over it. And Slade eats seconds and kisses Dick’s face and says, “Sweet of you to cook for me, Little Bird, let me clean the kitchen for you.” 

He comes up with something else the next time Slade is due back from a contract. Slade can’t stand soup, he thinks soup is not a real meal unless Dick isn’t feeling well and then he’ll season some broth and call it a day. But Pinterest is full of disgusting soup recipes, foods that should never even be made into soups but they are. 

So Dick makes lasagna soup and it’s simmering away on the stove when Slade gets in at 10pm “Are you cooking again?” He asks. 

Dick hums an affirmative from where he’s sprawled on the couch in one of Slade’s T-shirt’s, “Want some?” 

“Of course.” Slade answers, “Just let me put my stuff down and change, okay?” 

Dick follows Slade back to their bedroom and lays on the bed while Slade changes clothes. And if Slade happens to fuck him first before Dick reveals that he made Slade soup for dinner then that’s fine too, Dick’s grown and can admit when he misses someone. 

“What is this?” Slade asks when they’re standing in the kitchen, Dick wrapped around Slade’s side and smiling up at him. 

“It’s soup.” Dick says, “Pinterest is the holy grail for soup recipes. This one is lasagna.” He doesn’t give Slade time to complain, just scoops some out for him and hands it back, “I think you’ll love it.” 

Well if Slade hates it he certainly doesn’t let on. He eats without complaint once again and Dick leaves his bowl almost completely untouched because three bites told him that lasagna soup was not going to make a comeback in their lives. 

But Slade kisses him and says, “Thanks for dinner, kid” and then cleans the kitchen just to rub salt in the wound. He doesn’t even ask Dick to help him, he leaves Dick sprawled on the couch watching reruns of Judge Judy. And when Dick is grouchy at one in the morning Slade makes him a peanut butter sandwich. 

“You have to eat.” He says sitting on the coffee table across from Dick, “Your generation calls it hangry but it’s your body running out of fuel which stimulates stress.” 

“Could just go to bed.” Dick grouches while he eats the sandwich. 

Slade hums, “You’re an adult, Dick, you don’t have to punish yourself by going to bed hungry.” 

He does not say anything when Dick decides to be the big spoon that night. 

Slade indulges Dick when he starts fantasizing about their future together. When he’s exhausted but fighting sleep to talk to Slade, facing him in the bed with long pauses between sentences. 

“We could live in an old farm house.” Dick mumbles, eyes closed, “We could have some chickens.” 

Dick’s too sleepy to ask why Slade insists on painting the porch ceilings light blue if they do fulfill this fantasy but when he looks it up later it’s apparently got something else to do with ghosts. He really needs Slade to just come out and say he’s afraid of ghosts if that’s the case. Slade alluding to it is really starting to get under Dick’s skin a little bit. 

They meet up for lunch a week later. Dick was supposed to take Valentine to the vet for her vaccinations but he had a family emergency at the manor and Slade graciously agrees to take the cat to her appointment. He has enough time to drop her off at home first before he finds Dick waiting to cross the street at third and Porter when, of course, the acrobat steps out into oncoming traffic. 

Dick’s got a bad habit of just not paying attention to crosswalks and traffic, a death wish Slade would call it. But he’s there in time to yank the collar of Dick’s shirt and pull him back onto the sidewalk so a fucking car doesn’t hit him. Dick doesn’t realize it’s him though because he turns around ready to fight and comes face to face with Slade. 

“I have an idea.” Slade says, crossing his arms over his chest, “If you plan on crossing the street again without me here to watch you, maybe you should also observe the crowd of people around you. If they aren’t walking, maybe you shouldn’t be either.” 

Dick opens his mouth to argue when the light changes for them to actually cross and Slade holds a hand out and mutters, “Hold my hand, Dick.” 

“Yes Daddy.” Dick rolls his eyes but takes Slade’s hand and walks with him across the street to the diner. 

“I thought we talked about this.” Slade holds the door open for Dick, “I’m too old for you to call me Daddy but you can call me Papa.” 

“Yes Papa.” Dick repeats in the same tone.

“That’s a good boy.” Slade teases as they’re seated across from each other in a booth, “I just don’t want to get a call that you were run over by someone in a Prius. You’re smarter than that.” 

“Why do you do this.” Dick asks with a frown. He’s a little grouchy about having to interact with Bruce so Slade will just have to deal with that for now because there’s no Bruce here to be cranky at. 

“Why do I do what?” Slade asks without looking at him. 

“All these little things, Slade. You cook for me, you eat whatever I cook for you even if it’s burnt, you let me take you to a goodwill even though it grossed you out, you have a bath waiting for me every time I get home, you do my laundry, you took Valentine to her appointment even though you don’t really like her, you’ve moved me into a better part of town, you’ve given me access to your bank account, you made me hold your hand to cross the street just now. I could go on, do you need me to go on?” 

Slade looks at him like he’s crazy, “Well god bless, Dick, I guess it’s because I love you.” 

Dick blinks, doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and it’s so rare for him to be speechless but he almost is. “You love me?” He asks with a shit eating grin, “Slade do you really love me?” 

“You don’t have to say it back.” Slade responds, “You don’t have to love me back...I didn’t say it enough when I was with Adeline. I just thought that doing things for her would prove that. I thought that doing things for you would prove that but that’s not always the case-“ 

“Shut the fuck up.” Dick smiles, “Of course I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t realize what you were doing. Your brand of affection is so much like Bruce’s and I guess I’ve spent so much time being angry with him that I didn’t realize what you were doing. And sorry for probably sounding hostile when I asked why you were doing things for me.” 

“Can we please stop being goopy with each other now?” Slade asks. 

“Sure.” Dick says, opening his menu, “Okay next order of business. Slade I’ve got to fucking know if you’re afraid of ghosts.” 

“I swear to god it doesn’t fucking matter how I feel about ghosts, Grayson.” 

Dick’s doesn’t need any further confirmation, “It’s okay babe. I’ll protect Deathstroke the Terminator from any spookies.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know there was something about this I wanted to change and now I can’t remember. 
> 
> Posting this from my phone while I’m at work so please forgive this garbage :) stay safe! -B_F


End file.
